THOUSANDS poured into the streets and green spaces of Headington for the area's biggest annual extravaganza this weekend.

Headington Festival returned on Saturday and Sunday for its 16th year with numerous events, stalls and displays in and around the eastern parcel of the city.

It was a packed out crowd in Bury Knowle Park with droves of revellers out enjoying the festivities and the sunshine for the event which is organised by Headington Action.

Co-organiser and Trustee Richard Bradley praised the turnout on the day and said the event helps bring together the whole community.

He said: "This festival has been running for 16 years now, the whole idea is to bring the community together.

"It is very much a community event both to attract people in, to enjoy themselves, and for small organisations to demonstrate and promote what they have achieved.

"It has proved to be very popular, we usually get about 5,000 people here."

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As well as stalls and stands for various groups and organisations there was also live entertainment, sports tasting sessions, an outdoor cinema and farmyard animals.

There was also a children’s photography competition, organised by Science Oxford, with local schoolchildren showing off their snaps of a range of animals from ducks to slugs.

Liberal Democrat councillor the area Roz Smith was also at the event and said: "I am delighted, every year it gets bigger and better.

"We see more and more people and we see people coming from all the parts of Oxford which is good."

Aside from the entertainment in the park there was also numerous stalls selling everything from crafts to books to foodstuffs on day one of the extravaganza on Saturday.

One stall holder, who regularly sets up for the weekly Headington Market, was Jamie Carr of Blacklands Organics.

He said: “It adds a bit more colour to the area and it introduces new people in.

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“It is nice and it breaks up the market every week.

“It doesn’t particularly bring out a huge amount of trade for me because most are regulars but it is good for the community.”

Meanwhile, on Saturday the streets of Headington were also lined with creative shapes and vibrant colours as The Big Chalk descended on the area.

The initiative - spearheaded by local artist Jean Wykes and sponsored by Chancellors Estate Agents - invites families and children to decorate the area with an array of coloured chalk.

This year she timed the event to be held simultaneously with the Headington Festival.

Speaking on the day she said: “We have been blessed with the weather this year and there has been a really good turnout, it seems very positive.

“We have got [the chalk] everywhere, it has been really busy.”

Festival organisers said they expect the annual event to be back in 2020.